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Thresholds in forest bird richness in response to three types of forest cover in Ontario, Canada

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Abstract

Context

Identification of threshold values in avian responses to habitat loss provides science-based guidelines on how to best manage anthropogenically altered landscapes for wildlife preservation.

Objectives

Our objectives were to test for thresholds in species richness of forest-breeding birds in relation to deciduous, coniferous, mixed, and total forest cover in two landscapes varying in the amount of forest present, and to determine whether thresholds for each forest type were coincident within and among landscapes, and across two spatial scales.

Methods

We used Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas data to calculate species richness of forest-breeding birds. Percent deciduous, coniferous, mixed, and total forest cover were determined in 250 m radius circles around survey locations (local scale) and for 10 × 10 km squares (landscape scale) in the fragmented, sparsely forested Mixedwood Plains ecozone and in the more continuously forested Ontario Shield ecozone. Best-fit models explaining variation in species richness were selected from candidate sets of models that included 1–6 variables in addition to segmented or linear terms for forest cover.

Results

Threshold models had support at the local and landscape scales, and for all forest types. Thresholds ranged from 4 to 45 % cover, being slightly higher in the more continuously forested landscape, and for more prevalent forest types.

Conclusions

Thresholds can provide useful targets for conservation efforts, but it is crucial to recognize that habitat levels should be maintained above threshold values to avoid ecological degradation, and to address the habitat requirements of species with occupancy thresholds above those of the assemblage.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the official sponsors of the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas (Bird Studies Canada, Environment Canada, Federation of Ontario Naturalists, Ontario Field Ornithologists, and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources) for making the data available. We would also like to thank the countless volunteers who collected the information for the OBBA. Funding for this project was provided by Bird Studies Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, and by a National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Industrial Research and Development Fellowship grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bird Studies Canada, 115 Front Rd., P.O. Box 160, Port Rowan, ON, N0E 1M0, Canada

    Sonya Richmond & Andrew Couturier

  2. Bird Studies Canada, 17 Waterfowl Ln., P.O. Box 6227, Sackville, NB, E4L 1G6, Canada

    Eva Jenkins

  3. Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, 867 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, ON, L7R 4A6, Canada

    Mike Cadman

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  1. Sonya Richmond
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Correspondence to Sonya Richmond.

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Richmond, S., Jenkins, E., Couturier, A. et al. Thresholds in forest bird richness in response to three types of forest cover in Ontario, Canada. Landscape Ecol 30, 1273–1290 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-015-0183-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-015-0183-7

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